Photo Repair

How to fix the “jpg file couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it” error

Written By Sumona Chatterjee
Approved By Rohit Arora
Updated on 21 Jul, 2022
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Summary: Unable to open JPEG files because you don’t have the permission to view it is a common issue Mac users often face and is quite frustrating.Therefore, this blog highlights some ways to eliminate the issue and fix JPEG files.

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Mac users often report that at times when they try to access their JPEG/JPG files all that appears on the screen is ‘The file cannot be open because you don’t have the permission to view it’ error.

Nothing can be worse than this, as you don’t have the read and write permission to your own JPEG files, how ironic that is. Well, that’s what the purpose of the blog is as it sheds light on some of the different methods to deal with the error and fix JPEG files.

How to fix ‘'jpg file couldn't be opened because you don't have permission to view it’ error — *Figure 1: Illustrates to run ‘’First Aid’ on the affected disk*

That said, implement these go-to procedures to fix the error. Prior to initiating the repairing process, it is recommended to backup all your files so that in case something unexpected happens at least you can restore your original files.

If you don’t have the permission to open your JPEG/JPG files, the following might be the reasons:

The problem could be due to a third-party installer. To elaborate, you may have multiple accounts on a Mac device and it is possible that you might have installed a third-party application while logged in to another user account; therefore, install applications with your normal user account
You might not have the root ownership of the files and folders
Files and folders might have been affected due to power interruption
Files have been infected by viruses or the storage media has bad sectors

Methods to fix the error:

i. Delete some files in the library

If you’re unable to open JPEG/JPG files, quit the photo viewing application and backup all your photos. Then go to the Finder menu bar, hold down the Option key, and select Go < Library. Under the Library folder, delete the following items:

Containers/com.apple.Preview
Saved Application State/com.apple.Preview.saved state
Preferences/com.apple.Preview.LSSharedFileList.plist
Preferences/com.apple.Preview.SandboxedPersistentURLs.LSSharedFileList.plist
Caches/com.apple.Preview

After deleting the items, try opening JPEG/JPG files, if everything works fine, then well and good else proceed with the next step.

ii. Run Disk Utility

The problem could be with your Mac hard drive and to fix the error, you need to run Disk Utility in order to regain access to your photos.

There might be a probability that your drive is corrupt or damaged and that is causing the issue. Disk Utility is the preferred way to eliminate disk-related issues as it scans the disk’s structure for errors and automatically fixes it.

To fix the error, follow these steps:

i. Restart your Mac and hold down ‘Command + R’ until the Apple logo appears on the screen. macOS Utilities is displayed, select Disk Utility

ii. Select the required hard drive and click on ‘First Aid’ followed by ‘Run’

iii. Disk Utility analyzes the Mac hard drive for errors. If Disk Utility finds any error on the drive, then it automatically fixes the error and repairs the disk.

iii. Run a reliable software to fix JPEG files

Although it won’t fix the error yet if the error is in the JPEG/JPG files, then it can easily and efficiently repair the affected files. Above all, the repairing process is pretty much simple and within a few clicks, you can repair your photos.

The software has minimal system requirements; hence, it can be easily downloaded. Launch the software and on the home-screen select click on ‘Add File’ to add the corrupt or damaged JPEG/JPG files.
The software lists all the files. Further, you add or remove files and once the files are chosen, click on Repair to start the repairing process.
Once the repairing process is complete, preview the files to ensure that the repairing process is 100% successful.
Select the files and click on Save to save them at the preferred location.

To Sum Up

Now the issue is not an issue anymore as you have a solution to repair the error and again have the permission to your JPEG/JPG files. Further, the blog also highlights a JPEG repairing software if the file itself is corrupt or damaged. Above all, the key to safeguarding your files is to have a relevant backup.

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About The Author

Sumona Chatterjee

Sumona is a tech blogger, avid photographer, & technogeek with vast experience in writing about media file recovery tips and tutorials. She has over 10 years of experience in media file recovery/media file repair technology. She is passionate about Photography, Creative Designing, Music, and Exploring lesser-known destinations.

34 comments

Amie says:

April 24, 2019 at 1:32 pm

I’m happy to fix this issue with the help of your blog. Thank you, this was very helpful!

Reply
1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
  
  April 25, 2019 at 3:17 am
  
  Hi Amie, Thank you!
  
  Reply
Mayte says:

December 21, 2018 at 1:23 pm

Hi, my problem is that my hard drive were connected, thousand of pictures that I can’ t open now, what should I do? I am really scared

Reply
1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
  
  December 24, 2018 at 3:53 am
  
  Hi Mayte, you can download demo version of our software and see repaired jpeg files.
  
  Reply
Penny says:

November 20, 2018 at 4:54 am

It was quite a frustrating experience dealing with this error. Your tools helped wonderfully and just did what I wanted. Thanks a lot

Reply
1. Harsha Alamchandani says:
  
  December 20, 2018 at 4:34 am
  
  Hey Penny! Thanks for reading the blog and trying out the solution.
  
  Reply
Brian Callaway says:

June 20, 2018 at 10:35 am

I had a same problem on my MacOS when I try to open a photo I get this error. I views or change the permission, select the item in the finder and choose file> Get info. I have been the finder and choose the file but it show no option to change the permissions .Can anyone help me?

Reply
1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
  
  June 29, 2018 at 3:03 am
  
  Dear Brian, Back up all data. Please follow the given steps:
  
  1. Quit Preview if it’s running.
  
  2. Hold down the option key and select go
  
  3. Library from the Finder menu bar. From the Library folder
  
  4. Delete the following items, if they exist:
  
  Caches/com.apple.Preview
  
  Containers/com.apple.Preview
  
  Preferences/com.apple.Preview.LSSharedFileList.plist
  
  Preferences/com.apple.Preview.SandboxedPersistentURLs.LSSharedFileList.plist
  
  Saved Application State/com.apple.Preview.savedState
  
  5. Launch the application and test.
  
  Reply
  1. Miguel Antonio says:
    
    August 19, 2018 at 11:59 pm
    
    Hi Sumona,
    Just a few questions of clarification:
    
    1) Are those 5 files safe to delete? my understanding is that they will just regenerate afterwards correct?
    2) When you say backup all data, as in backup my WHOLE computer? or just the photo files?
    
    Hoping to hear from you, this jpeg issue is really sooooooo annoying…
    
    Cheers!
  2. Sumona Chatterjee says:
    
    August 20, 2018 at 3:52 am
    
    Hi Miguel, If you deleted photo or jpeg files on your computer or system. Our Stellar Photo Recovery software will recover all damaged or deleted photos. If you have some corrupt jpeg files want to repair our Stellar Jpeg Repair will help to repair those files or if you want to recover all backup data. Our Stellar Windows Recovery software will help you to recover all the backup data on your computer.
Benjamin Rasmussen says:

May 29, 2018 at 11:12 am

I had solved my problem on ‘picture could not opened ‘ on Mac. Because don’t have permission to view it. With the help of given method I can easily resolved this issue. Thank a lot!

Reply
1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
  
  May 30, 2018 at 4:01 am
  
  Thanks Benjamin, for reading our blog and share a valuable feedback with us!
  
  Reply
Maggie Steber says:

May 25, 2018 at 10:40 am

I have an issue with Windows Photo viewer won’t open jpeg or ping? Any help would be appreciated.

Reply
1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
  
  May 28, 2018 at 10:39 am
  
  There is an issue on this system with: Maxx Audio Installer (x64) is no longer available notification from compatibility assistant. File date issue was followed by file system error (-2147219196). The fix was to reinstate Windows Photo Viewer as default image viewing App. Apparently updating the concerned apps through the Windows Store fixed the issue.
  
  Reply
Matt Kloskowski says:

February 14, 2018 at 10:09 am

Typically I just opened an attachment now the Thumbnail is blank and nothing happens.

Reply
1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
  
  February 14, 2018 at 10:57 am
  
  Hello Matt,
  
  Due to some malware attack in the attached file, it may be a reason for Jpeg file to become corrupt or doesn’t find the right extension to open. Please download antivirus on your pc and scan all files and then try Stellar Jpeg repair to recover your files.
  
  Reply
Matt Kloskowski says:

January 19, 2018 at 10:19 am

A few months ago, I started using windows 10 and was able to open and close the Jpeg files. Now Can’t Open Jpeg Files with Windows 10. Any One have an idea to resolve this problem?

Reply
1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
  
  February 14, 2018 at 9:11 am
  
  Dear Matt,
  
  Windows 10 has native support for Jpeg files built right into the OS?
  Please describe me what are you doing in the past? Thanks
  
  Reply
Shailendra Kumar says:

November 20, 2017 at 4:21 am

Hello Brandy,
Thanks for your valuable Feedback.
Please follow us on Twitter for more updates!

Reply
Brandy says:

November 13, 2017 at 11:06 am

Hi, when I upgrade my iMac I don’t have change permission to open a Jpeg file. I follow this method that you have to written in this blog. I have resolved this issue. Now working!

Reply